| 1. |
- Aagerup, Ulf, 1969-
(författare)
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It’s Not What You Sell : It’s Whom You Sell it To: How the Customer’s Character Shapes Brands and What Companies Do About it
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this dissertation I investigate the effects of user and usage imagery on brands and how businesses employ user imagery to build brands. Over four articles I present results that suggest that user imagery affects brand personality and that companies under certain conditions adapt their behavior to optimize this effect. Although both mass market fashion and nightclubs are susceptible to the influence of user imagery, out of the two only nightclubs actively reject customers to improve its effect on brand perception. I relate these practices to the practical and financial feasibility of rejecting customers, the character of nightclubs’ brands, and to their inability to differentiate their brands through any other brand personality influencer besides user imagery. In this dissertation, I also discuss the ethical ramifications of user imagery optimization through customer rejection. In one study, the role of conspicuous usage imagery on socially desirable consumer behavior is investigated. It is concluded that conspicuousness increases consumers' propensity to choose environmentally friendly products, and that this tendency is especially pronounced for individuals that are high in attention to social comparison information. The conclusion is that consumers use green products to self-enhance for the purpose of fitting in with the group rather than to stand out from it.
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| 2. |
- Abbas, Abdul-Karim, 1959
(författare)
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Re-evaluation of the hypothesis that LTP has two temporal phases and that the late phase is protein synthesis-dependent
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Long-term potentiation (LTP) is an activity-dependent increase in synaptic efficacy that is most studied in the hippocampus and that is considered a cellular substrate for learning and memory. Accepting the belief that the durability (persistence in time) of LTP is analogical to long-standing store of hippocampus-dependent memories warrants the necessity for understanding the mechanisms underlying LTP stabilization. Although the great majority of neuroscientists assume that LTP induction, akin to the formation of memories triggers the synthesis of proteins that are instrumental for subsequent consolidation neither the identity of such presumed proteins nor the mechanisms by which they act to consolidate LTP are clear. Based on this notion LTP is distinguished temporally into an early phase (E-LTP), which is protein synthesis-independent and a late phase (L-LTP), which is protein synthesis-dependent. However, several behavioral and electrophysiological findings cast doubts on this notion. In the present thesis I have examined the effect of protein synthesis inhibitors (PSIs) on the stabilization of LTP in hippocampal slices obtained from young rats. Treating hippocampal slices with PSIs using a temporal window relative to the induction of LTP that has previously been used in the literature failed to block L-LTP, a result in contrast with published data. However, long-lasting pretreatment with the PSI emetine blocked LTP by LTP-unrelated mechanism as the drug showed deteriorating effect on the baseline response. In contrast, depleting the protein repertoire in the slice by long-lasting pretreatment with the PSI cycloheximide deteriorated the stabilization of LTP. Additionally, acceleration of protein degradation using hydrogen peroxide after the induction of LTP resulted in decay of LTP. Addition of cycloheximide induced additive decay of LTP stabilization. These contradictory findings have recently been replicated by other laboratories. In this thesis I present a working model that aims to explain the discrepant findings regarding PSI and LTP. The model concedes that knowing the kinetics of protein turnover during the induction of LTP may provide a prediction for the subsequent stabilization of LTP. This can explain the wide variability in the time course of the presumed protein-synthesis independent E-LTP. The model gains support from experiments in which a low concentration of the proteasome inhibitor MG-115 improved the stability of LTP induced by a weak induction protocol. In summary, my results suggest that 1) the temporal distinction of LTP into E- and L-LTP is a false dichotomy and 2) the rate of protein degradation may explain whether PSIs would, or would not, have an effect on LTP stabilization.
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| 3. |
- Abdulkarim, Khadija
(författare)
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Population-Based Long-Term Follow-up of Patients with Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, complications and prognosis
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- ABSTRACT Philadelphia chromosome negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (Ph-MPNs) are rare clonal hematological malignancies, mainly including polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET) and myelofibrosis (MF). Patients with these diseases run a high risk of vascular complications and may transform to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Population-based studies relating to these issues are few in number. The aims were (i) to investigate the rate of AML development in subtypes of Ph-MPNs, (ii) to determine whether clinical and bone marrow findings at diagnosis have an impact on survival and vascular complications in PV and ET, (iii) to find prognostic tools based on clinical findings in newly diagnosed PV and (iv) to describe the “real”-life data from newly diagnosed PV and ET. We have investigated these issues in population-based material; study (i) and (iii) were based on patients from both Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Côte d`Or area, France. Study (ii) was based only from Gothenburg and study (iv) comprised PV and ET patients in the National MPN Registry. In the median observation period of 15 years, 7% (56 of 795) of patients with Ph-MPN transformed to AML. The yearly rate of AML transformation was significantly higher in MF (1.09%) compared with that of ET (0.37%) and PV (0.38%); (p = 0.02 and p = 0.002 respectively). Patients with PV had a significantly shorter survival compared with the general Swedish population (HR 1.66; CI: (1.38-1.99); p < 0.001). For ET, however, the corresponding survival differences did not reach statistical significance (HR 1.23; CI: (0.97-1.51); p = 0.089). Low hemoglobin at the time of diagnosis predicted poor survival in ET (p = 0.0281) and splenomegaly predicted poor survival in PV (p = 0.037). Using multivariate analysis, independent risk factors at diagnosis for survival in PV patients were identified as age > 70 years, WBC > 13×109/L and thrombotic events. Patients with none of these risk factors had a 10-year relative survival (RS) of 84%, compared with 59% and 26% in patients with one and two or three risk factors respectively. In the fourth study, we showed that vascular complications preceded an MPN diagnosis in 35% of ET and 37% of PV and multivariate analysis identified low hemoglobin as a risk factor for thromboembolic complications in PV (p = 0.012), while in ET age > 65 years, WBC > 12 × 109 /L and the presence of the JAK2 V617F mutation were independent risk factors (p = 0.0004, p = 0.0038 and p = 0.0016 respectively).
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| 4. |
- Acosta García, Nicolas, 1986
(författare)
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Chocó challenges : communities negotiating matters of concern and care on Colombia’s margin
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Chocó is a remote and biodiverse region located on Colombia’s Northern Pacific Coast. The region is home to indigenous Embera and Afro-descendant communities. Both communities share and contest a legacy of colonisation, violence, dispossession and discrimination. This thesis explores the ways in which the local communities of Chocó challenge and transform the matters that concern them. It focuses on their concerns over the effects of biodiversity conservation, development, and drug trade on their communities. It first investigates the challenges associated with doing research concerning both global and local concerns. Then, based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Chocó, it develops a methodology to address environmental value conflicts over the use of Utría National Park, located in the region. Third, the thesis studies the social protest of both local communities for the construction of a small hydroelectric power plant inside the park, finding that this protest for electricity reflects a complex post-colonial politics complementary to the discourse concerning political resistance as expressed by local and indigenous communities protesting against development. Fourth, drift-cocaine has been arriving recently to the coastal region of Chocó as a side effect of the country’s war on drugs. In Chocó, this phenomenon is referred to as the White Fish and is investigated here by situating its associated practices and transformations within the local context. Fifth, Utría National Park is explored visually as a place of rhythms and temporalities. Lastly, it argues that the mechanisms, grounded in concepts of solidarity and co-existence, which are employed by the local communities in negotiating the matters that concern them, provide alternative narratives to the ones often used to described them as in “poverty” and in need of “development”.
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| 5. |
- Adolfsson, Kerstin, 1988
(författare)
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Blaming victims of rape : Studies on rape myths and beliefs about rape
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Rape is a crime characterized by low reporting and conviction rates. Many victims who do report, drop out during the justice process. This is a problem both for the victims themselves and for the legal certainty of societies. One explanation for low reporting rates is victims’ justified fear of being badly treated, mistrusted, and blamed. Victim-blaming attitudes have been extensively studied and reported both among the general public and among professionals in the justice and healthcare systems. Several variables have been investigated to understand victim blaming, both aspects of the rape situation and variables connected to personal beliefs. However, previous studies have predominantly investigated only a few variables at a time. The aim of this thesis was partly to experimentally investigate whether situation-specific variables or participants’ personal beliefs are more important in seeking to understand blame attribution. Possible effects of age, gender, force, and number of perpetrators were also investigated. In addition, the aim was to include the perspective of professionals who meet, treat, and interact with rape victims. All three studies were conducted using a multi-analytical approach incorporating both analyses of variance (ANOVAs) as well as more elaborated and exploratory analyses. In Study I, the effects of victim and participant age, participant gender, sympathy for the victim, trust in the justice system, belief in a just world, and rape myth acceptance (RMA) were investigated in three experiments, employing a vignette methodology. In total, 877 Swedish adolescents and adults read scenarios describing common acquaintance rape situations. Victim age (18 or 31 years) was manipulated, but did not affect attributed blame. Effects of participant age and gender varied markedly across scenarios. Sympathy for the victim and RMA were the best individual predictors of attributed blame, indicating that blame attributions are more affected by personal beliefs than by situation-specific variables. Study II investigated effects of multiple perpetrators and their use of force on blame attributions, in two experiments. A total of 2928 participants read a vignette where number of perpetrators or perpetrators’ use of force was manipulated. Subsequently, they completed items rating blame, RMA, just-world beliefs, sympathy for the victim, perception of consent, and trust in the legal system. No effect of force was found, but the depicted victim of a multiple-perpetrator rape was attributed more blame than the victim of lone-perpetrator rape. The best individual predictors of attributed blame were participants’ perception of consent, sympathy for the victim, and RMA. In line with Study I, the results indicated that participants’ beliefs about rape were more predictive than situational factors. In Study III, the thesis was broadened by including the perspective of professionals encountering victims of rape. A total of 237 police employees, prosecutors, and healthcare personnel responded to a survey concerning barriers and problematic practices as well as questions regarding rape myths, belief in a just world, and trust in the justice system. Profession, age, and RMA affected their estimates of false rape reports, while age and profession affected trust in the justice system. Lack of resources was the most prominent barrier, and detailed and repeated questioning of the victims was the most highlighted problematic practice. The results further identified professionals’ need for more education in order to improve treatment of rape victims. In conclusion, this thesis indicates that personal beliefs are more predictive of blame attributions than are situational factors related to the rape itself. RMA, sympathy for the victim, and perception of consent were the most predictive variables of both victim and perpetrator blame. It also highlights the requirement for more resources and knowledge among professionals in both the justice and healthcare systems. This thesis has implications for future projects to prevent victim blame with the long-term goal of reducing attrition rates. It identifies what to focus on: reducing RMA, increasing sympathy for rape victims, and increasing awareness of the concept of sexual consent.
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| 6. |
- Adolfsson, Lisa, 1984
(författare)
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Role of mycorrhiza symbiosis and phosphorus nutrition in plant growth, photosynthesis and secondary metabolism
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Inorganic phosphorus (Pi) is an important and often limiting nutrient for plants. Large amounts of Pi fertilizers derived from non-renewable rock phosphorus, are used in agriculture. These are applied in excess but crops take up only a small amount of Pi; the residual Pi ends up in water systems where it causes problems with eutrophication. Plants can increase their Pi uptake efficiency by forming a symbiotic association between their roots and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. During symbiosis, AM fungi provide the host with Pi in return for carbohydrates synthesized in the leaf chloroplast through photosynthetic assimilation of CO2. For AM symbiosis to be a plausible tool in modern agriculture, the symbiotic interaction needs to be optimized for generating a positive growth response of the crop. To achieve this, knowledge about the signaling between the plant and the fungus is crucial. It is known that both Pi signalling and AM symbiosis are tightly connected to metabolic processes in the chloroplast. In response to Pi limitation, more sugars and starch accumulate in leaves, and transport of sucrose towards roots increases. AM symbiosis increases the flow of sucrose towards the root system and induces production of secondary metabolites, which is initiated in the chloroplast. An Arabidopsis thaliana mutant lacking the chloroplast-localized Pi transporter PHT4;1, was studied in Paper I to get a deeper understanding about the role of Pi supply in the chloroplast. The mutant displayed a reduced activity of the chloroplast ATP synthase due to Pi limitation, which resulted in less CO2 assimilation, decreased levels of sugars in the shoot, reduced leaf size and biomass. The influence of AM symbiosis and Pi fertilization on growth and chloroplast processes such as photosynthesis and secondary metabolism was studied in Medicago truncatula. In Paper II, it is shown that AM symbiosis and Pi fertilization stimulate the expansion of shoot branches and leaves, whereas AM symbiosis specifically increases the number of chloroplasts. The increased surface area of the shoot enables the plant to harvest more sunlight. These morphological alterations are attributed to an enhanced level of cytokinins in leaves of AM- and Pi-treated plants (Paper III). In Paper III, it is also shown that AM symbiosis and Pi fertilization induce largely different transcriptional and metabolic responses. AM-specific responses were increased expression of secondary metabolite genes, and enhanced production of flavonoids and the hormone abscisic acid (ABA). In conclusion, a model is proposed where a long distance signal in mycorrhized roots, derived from the enhanced carbon demand of the fungus, affects production of secondary metabolites in leaf chloroplasts. Validating this model will help to better understand the signaling between the plant and the fungus during AM symbiosis. This will allow the development of systems where AM symbiosis is used in agriculture for more efficient Pi uptake by crop plants.
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| 7. |
- af Burén, Ann
(författare)
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Living Simultaneity: On religion among semi-secular Swedes
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis aims at contributing to a critical discussion on the supposedly far-reaching secularity of Sweden on the one hand, and on the incongruence and inconsistency of lived religion on the other. At the center are people referred to as semi-secular Swedes – a group that is often neglected in the study of religion. These people do not go to church or get involved in any other alternative organized spiritual activities, neither are they actively opposed to religion or entirely indifferent to it. Most of them describe the ways they are – or are not – religious as in line with the majority patterns in Swedish society. The study is qualitative in method and the material has been gathered through interviews and a questionnaire. It offers a close reading of 28 semi-secular Swedes’ ways of talking about and relating to religion, particularly in reference to their everyday lives and their own experiences, and it analyzes the material with a focus on incongruences. By exploring how the term religion is employed vernacularly by the respondents, the study pinpoints one particular feature in the material, namely simultaneity. The concept of simultaneity is descriptive and puts emphasis on a ‘both and’ approach in (1) the way the respondents ascribe meaning to the term religion, (2) how they talk about themselves in relation to different religious designations, and (3) how they interpret experiences that they single out as ‘out-of-the-ordinary’. These simultaneities are explained and theorized through analyses focusing on intersubjective and discursive processes. In relation to theorizing on religion and religious people this study offers empirical material that nuance a dichotomous understanding of ‘the religious’ and ‘the secular’. In relation to methodology it is argued that the salience of simultaneity in the material shows that when patterns of religiosity among semi-secular Swedes are studied there is a need to be attentive to expressions of complexity, contradiction and incongruity. The study is qualitative in method and the material has been gathered through interviews and a questionnaire. It offers a close reading of 28 semi-secular Swedes’ ways of talking about and relating to religion, particularly in reference to their everyday lives and their own experiences, and it analyzes the material with a focus on incongruences. By exploring how the term religion is employed vernacularly by the respondents, the study pinpoints one particular feature in the material, namely simultaneity. The concept of simultaneity is descriptive and puts emphasis on a ‘both and’ approach in (1) the way the respondents ascribe meaning to the term religion, (2) how they talk about themselves in relation to different religious designations, and (3) how they interpret experiences that they single out as ‘out-of-the-ordinary’. These simultaneities are explained and theorized through analyses focusing on intersubjective and discursive processes. In relation to theorizing on religion and religious people this study offers empirical material that nuance a dichotomous understanding of ‘the religious’ and ‘the secular’. In relation to methodology it is argued that the salience of simultaneity in the material shows that when patterns of religiosity among semi-secular Swedes are studied there is a need to be attentive to expressions of complexity, contradiction and incongruity.
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| 8. |
- Afghahi, Henri, 1966
(författare)
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Epidemiological Aspects of Renal Impairment in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Diabetes is a leading cause of renal impairment (RI) and indication of the need for renal replacement therapy in many parts of the world. Albuminuria and RI are the two main forms of diabetic kidney disease. The overall aims of this thesis were to explore risk factors and consequences associated with albuminuria and RI in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), as well as to assess the relationship between blood pressure variables, cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. The studies were based on data from the Swedish National Diabetes Register (NDR). Study I followed 3,367 patients with T2D who did not exhibit signs of albuminuria or RI from 2002 to 2007 in order to evaluate the risk of developing them. A total of 20% of patients developed albuminuria and 11% developed RI. Among those with one of the two conditions, 62% had normoalbuminuric RI. Development of albuminuria or RI was independently associated with advanced older age, high systolic blood pressure and elevated triglycerides. The independent risk factors were obesity, poor glycemic control, smoking, low HDL- cholesterol and male gender for developing albuminuria, as opposed to elevated plasma creatinine at baseline and female gender for developing RI. Different sets of risk factors were associated with development of the two conditionsRI and albuminuria. High body mass index (BMI) was an independent risk factor for RI when renal function was calculated with the MDRD equation, while low BMI was a risk factor with when the Cockcroft-Gault equation was used. In other words, the equation chosen to estimate renal function is important in when interpreting data. Thus, patients with T2D face have distinct risk factors for albuminuria and RI. Study II included 94,446 patients with T2D, including 19,330 with RI. The majority with T2D and RI were normoalbuminuric. Normoalbuminuric RI may be partly due to treatment with RAAS blockade. Given, however, that only 25% of the patients with normoalbuminuric renal impairment had received RAAS blockade, the possibility that other underlying pathophysiological mechanisms play a role should be further evaluated. Study III followed 33,356, and Study IV 27,732, patients with T2D and RI in 2005-2011 in order to evaluate correlations associations between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and all-cause mortality. We observed U-shaped relationships between various aspects of SBP and the risk of all-cause mortality. The greatest risks for Cardiovascular events (CVEs) and all-cause mortality were at the highest and lowest blood pressure intervals. SBP of 135-139 and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 72-74 mmHg showed the lowest risks of CVEs and all-cause mortality. Adjusting for presence of albuminuria or chronic heart failure did not significantly alter the results. A reduction in SBP during follow-up is was associated with a greater risk of all-cause mortality. In summary, this thesis shows that obesity and other traditional cardiovascular risk factors are associated with development of albuminuria and RI in patients with T2D. We also found that normoalbuminuric RI is common in patientsly associated with T2D. Finally, both the highest and lowest blood pressure intervals are associated with greater risks of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality.
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| 9. |
- Ahlin, Kristina
(författare)
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Antecedents of Cerebral Palsy in children born at term - according to subtype, motor severity and accompanying impairments
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Aims: To explore antecedents of cerebral palsy (CP) according to subtype, severity of motor impairment and accompanying impairments (epilepsy and/or cognitive impairments) in relation to neuroimaging patterns. Material and methods: Case control studies were performed in a population-based serie of children with CP born at term (n=309), matched with a control group (n=618). The cases and the matched controls were divided into CP subtype; spastic hemiplegia, spastic diplegia or tetraplegia and dyskinetic CP and into severity of motor impairment; mild, moderate or severe. Obstetric records and the CP register of western Sweden were reviewed and 88 antecedents to CP were analyzed for their associations to different subtypes, severity of motor impairment, associated impairments in CP as well as to neuroimaging pattern. Binary logistic regression, the Cochran-Armitage Chi-squared test for trends, interaction analyses and interrelationship analyses were used. Both univariable and adjusted analyzes were performed. Results: Paper I: The antecedent pattern differed by CP subtype. All subtypes shared a mix of prepartal, intrapartal and postpartal antecedents, except for dyskinetic CP, for which intra- and postpartal events played a major role. Paper II: Maternal infections were associated only with the subgroup spastic hemiplegia whereas neonatal infection was associated with the subgroups of spastic diplegia or tetraplegia. Paper III: The antecedent pattern differed by severity of motor impairment in CP. Timing of antecedents corresponded to identified neuroimaging patterns. Paper IV: The accompanying impairments epilepsy and cognitive impairment in CP were associated with poor intrauterine growth, maldevelopment, and neonatal infections. Accompanying impairments in CP are more often associated with abnormal neuroimaging than motor impairment alone. Conclusions: The antecedent pattern differed by CP subtype, severity of motor impairment and by presence of accompanying impairments in CP. Our results might illustrate some of the causal pathways to CP, namely hypoxia, malformations and infection.
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| 10. |
- Aitaki, Georgia, 1986-
(författare)
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The Private Life of a Nation in Crisis : A Study on the Politics in/of Greek Television Fiction
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The private life of a nation in crisis offers in-depth studies of the fictional reconstruction and negotiation of moments of heightened societal tension that take place throughout the life of a nation. Its constituent papers focus on the role of television fiction in representing and shaping either critical moments, events, or periods that disrupt the normal pace of life, or unresolved societal tensions that become part of everyday life. What is more, the papers investigate the socio-cultural consequences of representations, in terms of the interpretative lenses television fiction provides for understanding the events as such. The empirical focus is placed on television fiction produced and broadcast in Greece, a country that has recently received a large share of publicity because of its protagonistic role in the late 2000s Eurozone crisis and, at the same time, a media landscape with multiple aspects that still remain uncharted. The thesis contains case studies from different periods of Greek television fiction, from 1989 – the year of the launch of the first private channels in Greece – onwards, in an attempt to connect the overall project to the production context characterizing commercial television, another aspect of European television in the process of continuous exploration. Through a close analysis of specific television programmes, as well as a complementary study of the production culture of private television in Greece, this thesis aspires to contribute to the general question regarding the role of the media in critical, uncertain, or tumultuous times, with an emphasis on television fiction’s potential to recode their meaning and to reflect back on society.
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